The government has flashed the green-light to the export of around 225,000 tonne of broken rice to a few countries, depending upon their specific requirement and strategic needs. The decision to export broken rice was taken at a recent meeting of ab empowered group of ministers, a senior government official added.
The timing of the export and the countries to which it will be sent will be decided by the food ministry in consultation with the ministry of external affairs. ?Central public sector undertakings like the State Trading Corporation, MMTC and PEC will be entrusted with the job of exporting the rice,? the official added.
Sources said that the government was willing to undertake such exports on a case-by-case basis and any decision on allowing an en masse export of rice will only be taken around November, when the current sowing period is over.
India had banned export of non-basmati rice in April and imposed a hefty Rs 8,000 per tonne duty on export of basmati rice. However, there have been calls from various countries mostly those from Africa and Southeast Asia to to tide over shortages in the respective regions. The government exported around 500,000 tonne to ease the supply situation in neighbouring Bangladesh.
India is expected to produce around 96.43 million tonne of rice in the marketing year that ended June, up from 93.35 million tonne a year earlier. This year state-run agencies have procured around 28 million tonne of rice from farmers, mainly due to the ban on exports and a hefty increase in minimum support price for farmers.
In the current kharif season, paddy (de-husked rice) has been planted in around 32.46 million hectares, up from 30.36 million a year-earlier. In India rice is cultivated both during the kharif and rabi seasons.